Spotlight on 'Mamma Mia!' with Jim Newman and Carly Sakolove

As part of a series showcasing long-running Broadway shows, we speak with two stars who have long histories with the hit ABBA musical now back in NYC.

Though Mamma Mia! has been away from Broadway for a decade, the ABBA musical about a mother, a daughter, and her three possible fathers has remained an enduring favorite. The film adaptation and its sequel, subsequent productions on stages of all sizes worldwide, and countless karaoke sessions and costume parties have all kept the show alive in the hearts of theatre fans, even during the 14 years its first Broadway run lasted. Not to mention that the London production has continuously run since 1999! And now that Mamma Mia! is back on Broadway with its original venue and creative team, it's like it never left.

The main difference is the cast, most of whom are imported from the national tour that's been running since 2023. Some have even longer histories with the show, like Carly Sakolove, who has performed the role of Rosie in three other Mamma Mia! productions since 2012. She now makes her Broadway debut opposite Jim Newman, whose role as Bill is the latest in his 30-year Broadway career. The pair get their big moment in the sexy, silly, and show-stopping Act 2 duet "Take a Chance on Me."

Having performed for audiences across the country, Newman and Sakolove spoke to the staying power of Mamma Mia! and the most exciting parts — for themselves and audiences — of its Broadway encore.

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Why do you think this show has such staying power among fans?

Jim Newman: It was written for the fans, not for the critics, right? [...] And they come in droves, and they come multiple times, and they bring their kids, and they scream and they wear T-shirts. Some get dressed up. That hasn't happened on Broadway shows I've been a part of.

Carly Sakolove: It is a phenomenon. In addition to the fact that the music brings people in, certain relationships you don't often see on stage, like female friendships, is a huge thing. [...] People see themselves in these characters.

Newman: Even though it is happy and fluff, if you look into it, there's some stuff to dig into. There's a very strong feminist plot line, there's a mother/daughter, there's loss, there's secrets.

What is the best audience reaction you have seen to the show?

Sakolove: I love when we kiss. It's been building up to it the whole show. And finally, we have our moment, and people are just like, "AAAAHHHH!"

Newman: They scream like teenagers. And when the shirt opens up, there's a big scream, and [...] this doesn't seem like the kind of show where that would happen. It comes out of left field for them because everything we've done is very PG.

What is your favorite moment in the show?

Newman: Our scene, "Take a Chance," is definitely my favorite.

Sakolove: Whenever I'm about to go on for "Take a Chance," I'm just like, "Let's go!" I get so excited because it's not a draining scene. The energy just keeps moving up and forward, and it's fun, and you get the reaction.

I do love the bedroom scene with Tanya, Donna, and Rosie. It's a monster; it's like, a 15-minute scene, and it's a lot of singing, and it's a lot of belting and a lot of dropping to the ground. I spend about 50% of the show on the ground: dropping to the ground, crawling on the ground, flopping on the ground, you name it.

[During the bedroom scene,] "Chiquitita" is probably my favorite, where we, Tanya and Rosie, use all the tricks in their trunk to try and cheer up their friend. And what's more fun than that?

Newman: I do have fun in "Voulez-Vous." For the dads, that's really fun, because that's the only time I really interact with the cast as a whole.

What is a little-known secret about performing in the show?

Sakolove: Our dressing rooms are on the fourth floor, which means you've got three flights up every time you want to go to your dressing room. My knees are killing me after two years doing uppy-downy on the floor and running around in spandex, boots, all that stuff, that I've started to go up the stairs sideways. Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes to get to the top. I'm just trying to save my limbs!

Also [...] we can see about the middle 10 people in the first row backstage; we have a conductor cam because all the background vocals are live backstage. So we can look on that monitor and see those 10 people, and see if they're sleeping...

Newman: Or really happy! It's really fun to see, like, "Aw, he's so cute. We're going to do the show for him. He's so happy." He's on the edge of his seat; his wife dragged him there, and he thought he was going to hate it, and he's so into it.

What do you hope audiences take away from the show?

Newman: I [hope] they just feel the joy, and they can unplug from everything we're seeing online, on the television, and they can even leave a little more hopeful. There's a lot of happy endings in this show, and they're not obvious endings.

Sakolove: I hope the people that come in and see our show leave with some warmth in their heart. I hope they leave thinking about a loved one, or how much they love their friends, or how much they love their daughter, or how proud they are of someone in their life. People leave, obviously, toe-tapping and singing the songs, but since I know how much they connect to the relationships in the show, I hope they leave happy about someone in their life.

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Interview excerpts have been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Photo credit: Mamma Mia! on Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)